Practical Photography - UK (2019-09)

Minites

Small accessories that could make a hugediffe

FLASH

IF YOUSHOOTPORTRAITS,

th ere’sa possibilityyou’llhave

ex ploredoff-cameraflash.

The technique,alsoknownas

strobism,allowsfordynamic

li ghtingwhileshootingon

location.Theonlybarrierfor

manyis thepriceof a powerful

enoughflash.Thankfully,

UK-basedPixapro,who

re -badgeGodoxkit – a brand

na methat’sbecometheflashof

choiceformanyphotographers

• pr ovidestheperfectmix of
  fe atures,powerandvaluefor
  money.Thisis trueforthelatest
  ve rsionof thepowerfulCiti600.

Mainfeatures

This600Wflashis a battery-

poweredTTLmonolight,or

la rgestudioflash,whichoffers

a rangeof shootingoptionsand

im provementsover themanual

ve rsion.Thebatterylastsfora

ve ryimpressive 370 full-power

fla shes,andtakestwohours

tocharge.It boastsa 38WLED

modellinglamp,built-in2.4GHz

re ceiverthat’scompatible

wi ththecompany’s

One system,andrather

powerfulguidenumber

of87mat ISO100.

It ’s capableof HSS

(h igh-speedsync)flash

upto 1/8000sec,and

ha s a shortflash

durationtimeof 1/220-

1/10,000sec,witha rapid

recycletimerangingfrom

0. 01-0.90secat fullpower.
   You canset theflashoutputin
   1/ 10-stopincrements,fromfull
   1/ 1 to 1/256th,andthecolour
   ac curacyis verywellcontrolled,
   si ttingat 5600k,witha variable
   of+/- 75k.It alsoboastsTTL

• th roughthelens– metering,
  whichmeansit canworkout
  th e bestsettingsforyourshot
  solongas youhavethecorrect
  cameratrigger.

Performance

TheCiti600Prohasadvanced

fe aturesthatofferbrilliantvalue

fo r money,andis basedon the

popularGodox

AD 600 Pro.

The buildis very

ru gged,and

whilethe3kg

to talweightisn’t

th e mostportable,it’sdefinitely

morethanreasonableforthis

level of professional feeling

performance.It also takes the

BowensS-fit,which means the

third-partyaccessory market

is extremelywell stocked, and

Pixaproitselfhas a range of

brandedmodifiers that are well

builtand competitively priced.

Thetriggersystem is

brilliant.Youcan set the power

fromyourhotshoe, as well as

controllingindividual groups

if youeverfindyourself using

multi-lightsetups. The side

oftheflashunit features an

LCDscreen,which displays

informationsuch as power and

modetype,while a range of

buttonsanda handy control

wheellet youeasily navigate

theavailableoptions and

manuallychange settings.

Shootingforfour

hours at a range

of power levels,

albeit rather

sparingly, we

were pleased to see the

battery life was still displaying

full bars, and the rapid recycle

time meant we never missed

a shot. The power output is

ideal for lighting dark scenes,

and also powerful enough to

illuminate subjects when used

in bright environments. The

colour accuracy was also spot

on in every shot.

We dabbled with high-speed

mode and found it worked

perfectly, with the 600W power

allowing us to illuminate our

darkened subjects against

the sky, while retaining the full

amount of information in the

scene. It’s a great flash, at a

competitive price, and we can’t

fault it. If you don’t need TTL,

check out the manual version.

essentialphoto.co.uk

Pixapro Citi600

Pro £799

AboveThe sideLCDis handyforseeingtheflashsettings.

OUTPUT

600W

RECYCLE TIME

0.01-0.9SEC

MODIFIERS

S-FIT

134 PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

HIG H LY

R ATED